Cold War naval memory often centers on submarines, carriers, and a supposed cruiser gap. Destroyers nevertheless make up a large share of the primary surface combatants. Seventy Skory destroyers extend the Soviet wartime design line, with service continuing into 1984. Neustrashimy also belongs to the culmination of that older technology, much as Britain's postwar Daring class completes an earlier phase of gun-destroyer development. Project 56 provides the starting point for the move toward missiles and a wider range of systems.
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Why Cold War memory misses destroyers
Destroyers make up much of the Cold War surface force, including wartime design lines that persist well into the missile era.